The College for Behavioral Health Leadership

Where behavioral health leaders collaborate to grow and transform communities across the nation.

Resources

Webinar | Equity-Grounded Leadership Fellow Program: A Co-Produced Approach to Behavioral Health Systems Transformation

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For more information about the Equity-Grounded Leadership Fellow Program, visit our webpage here.

Presentation Slides

Leaders must embody equity as an operating principle – as a mindset – to transform behavioral health systems. But what does this mean, and how is it operationalized for leaders?

Significant gaps exist in advancing behavioral health equity, with underrepresented, marginalized, and oppressed groups continuing to have disparate outcomes. Major system-level changes are in progress that will require behavioral health leaders be prepared to disrupt the status quo by addressing the pervasive inequities that continue to plague communities across the country. It is essential to support, develop, and orient leaders to a new approach to systems transformation, one where leaders grow and acquire the confidence, skills, and knowledge necessary to disrupt the current harmful system practices, policies, and cultures. Without this co-produced intervention, we risk continuing to fail individuals, families, and communities who face these inequities every day.

The Equity-Grounded Leadership (EGL) Fellow Program, developed and piloted from 2022 to 2023, is designed to shift the focus of cross-sector behavioral health leaders to intersectionality, equity, and anti-racism for behavioral health systems transformation. In this webinar, we shared the journey to co-produce the EGL Fellow Program; explored the Principles of Change for Equity-Grounded Leaders; and celebrate examples of equity-grounded leadership in action. 

Speakers:

Dr. Jei Africa | Director, Marin County (CA) Behavioral Health and Recovery Services

David Auzenne, MPH | Senior Fellow for Health Equity, Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute

Brad Barfield, MBA | Vice President, Envision:You

Dr. Crystal L. Brandow | Principal, clb strategies, LLC 

Ebony Chambers | Chief Family & Youth Partnership Officer, Stanford Sierra Youth and Families

Aly Feye, MPA | Director of Operations, The College for Behavioral Health Leadership

Dr. Michele Guzmán | Principal, TriWest Group

April Ludwig, LMFT | Business Consultant & Executive Coach, ALudwig Consulting Services

Marcy Melvin, MA, LPC | Deputy Director, The Hackett Center for Mental Health, Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute

B.J. Wagner, MS | Senior Vice President of Health and Public Safety, Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute

Webinar | Welcoming Integrated Systems and Services for People with Co-occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Conditions

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This webinar described how to organize systems and services at every level to center around the needs and hopes of the people and families with co-occurring mental health and substance use conditions who are desperately needing help. Leaders learned how to align best practice principles of integrated care with best practices for organizational change so that all programs and staff can be capable of welcoming, inspiring, and providing integrated interventions to those who need help the most.

This webinar was intended for leaders of all levels.

This webinar explored the following topics:

  • Understanding that people with co-occurring conditions and complex needs are an expectation, not an exception
  • How to align best practice principles of integrated care with best practices for organizational change
  • How to organize systems and services to best serve people with co-occurring disorders at the system, agency, and/or program level
Presentation Slides
NASMHPD Brief

Presenter Information

Dr. Kenneth Minkoff

Dr. Minkoff is Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at ZiaPartners, Inc., a behavioral health system consultation firm in Tucson, AZ. He is Board-Certified as an addiction psychiatrist and community psychiatrist, Board Member and Products and Services Committee Chair of the American Association for Community Psychiatry, playing a leading role in the development and dissemination of the LOCUS Family of Tools, as well as the Self-assessment for Modification of Anti-Racism Tool (SMART) for which he is co-author. He was one of the original members of the federal Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee (2017-20).  He is Co-Chair of the Community Psychiatry Committee of the Group for Advancement of Psychiatry, and one of the lead authors of the 2021 Report: Roadmap to the Ideal Crisis System, published by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing. He is a member of the National Council’s Medical Director Institute and consults to the National Council Centers of Excellence on Integrated Care and CCBHCs.  

Dr. Minkoff has been recognized as a national and international leader in the strategic development of quality-driven managed behavioral health care systems and integrated services and systems for complex populations for over 25 years, through the development of the Comprehensive Continuous Integrated System of Care approach, initially developed in the 1990’s as a system design model for implementing integrated services for individuals with co-occurring mental illness and SUD. Dr. Minkoff’s tenure as a community-hospital-based Medical Director and Chief of Psychiatry extended from 1984-1999, during which he was responsible for oversight and development of every type of inpatient and outpatient MH and SUD program. He also was the Medical Director of a multi-state managed-care-oriented behavioral health hospital management company from 1990-2001, and Medical Director of a large psychiatric hospital in Massachusetts, which included both an integrated MH/SUD unit, and an integrated MI/DD unit, from 1998-2000. With David Pollack, MD, he co-edited a seminal work on public sector managed care, Public Sector Managed Mental Health Care: A Survival Manual (1997), and has been a contributor to the development of the American Society of Addiction Medicine patient placement criteria.

Roundtable: Mental Health Reform and the Recovery (R)Evolution

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How can history serve as a launching pad for what comes next in mental health reform?  How do we avoid the cyclical actions taken to revert to practices like involuntary commitments, for example, which contradict what we know about recovery and wellbeing?

We are on the brink of major change, with the opportunity to tear down traditional boundaries and fully support mental health recovery. Join us on January 12 for a powerful dialogue about the history of mental health reform, the fight for recovery, and what demands our attention now.

Speaker Information

Cherene Caraco has made the last 28 years her personal and professional mission to understand how services and systems can either foster wellness, healing and a high quality of life or can harm the process of recovery.  She has used her experience with behavioral health services and systems throughout the country and as an international and national consultant to Managed Care Organizations, Hospitals, States and Behavioral Health Organizations to operationalize mental health recovery, trauma informed organizational change, integrating high integrity peer support, psychiatric rehabilitation and supported employment. In 2005/2006, Cherene started Promise Resource Network (PRN), a peer-operated and staffed non-profit organization serving people that are uninsured who experience complex combinations of mental health, substance use challenges, houselessness and incarceration.  The organization operates 16 programs including 24/7 crisis alternatives to emergency department and involuntary commitment, jail and prison diversion and re-entry, and houselessness to homeownership programs. In 2019, Cherene started Peer Voice NC, a statewide movement of people directly impacted by mental health issues to organize and mobilize around legislative and practice change. 

Vesper Moore (VES-pur MOR), is an Indigenous activist, trainer, writer, and psychiatric survivor. They have been advocating as a part of the mad and disability rights movements for several years and have been the recipient of many social justice and diversity awards. Vesper has brought the perspectives of mad, labeled mentally ill, neurodivergent, disabled people, and psychiatric survivors to national and international spaces. They have experience working as a consultant for both the United States government and the United Nations in shaping strategies around trauma, intersectionality, and disability rights. They have been at the forefront of legislative reform to shift the societal paradigm around mental health. Vesper as a mad queer indigenous person has made it their life’s mission to rewrite the narrative mental health-industrial complex has enforced on our society. Moore is a mad queer indigenous person of Kiskeia and Borikén Taíno descent and uses they/them pronouns.

Keris Jän Myrick is a Co-Director of S2i, Podcast host of Unapologetically Black Unicorns and serves on the Board of the National Association of Peer Specialists (N.A.P.S.). Ms. Myrick has over 15 years of experience in mental health services innovation, transformation, peer workforce development and authored peer reviewed articles and book chapters. She held executive positions at local, federal, and national levels and was the Board President of NAMI. Ms. Myrick’s work and advocacy has focused on lived experience and race equity. Ms. Myrick is a Certified Personal Medicine Coach, has an M.S. in organizational psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology of Alliant University and MBA from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management.

Phyllis Vine is an American historian and freelance writer. Her writings concern grassroots activists fighting for civil right, social justice and disability rights.  Her most recent book, Fighting for Recovery, discusses how people with a lived experience upended conventional models to demand person-centered recovery free of constraints. Her writing has appeared in publications such as The Washington Post, Slate, The Nation, Extra!, Psychology Today, City Limits, Progressive), as well as peer-reviewed journals. Formerly a New Yorker, she now lives in Western Mass., and has walked alongside several relatives in the process of recovery.

Webinar | Re-Imagining Systems to Foster Wellbeing Everywhere

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Imagine a model of care resting on a set of principles that, when adopted to the fullest, could diplomatically disrupt systems and shift paradigms, change organizational structures, create fresh and inclusive workplace cultures, and transform the clinical care experience for every person and community.  In this webinar, we will explore Stepped Care 2.0 as it disrupts the status quo and shifts systems, organizations, and the way people work together and value one another with the ultimate goal of fostering well-being everywhere.

Presentation Slides

Presenters

Dr. Peter Cornish is an Honorary Research Professor at Memorial University, the Co-Director of Student Mental Health at the University of California Berkeley. His clinical and research interests include online mental health, stepped care treatments, mental health service innovations, and interprofessional team functioning. Over the past ten years, he has provided consultation and on-site training on his Stepped Care 2.0 model to over 200 organizations globally, including work with transforming mental health care systems across seven Canadian provinces and territories. The not-for-profit company he founded, Stepped Care Solutions, is the lead administrative partner on Wellness Together Canada, a federal COVID-19, $65M mental health program for all peoples of Canada. He is the principal investigator for a $1.14M CIHR transitions-in-care, four-year research grant aimed at digitizing and evaluating Stepped Care 2.0 across three Canadian provinces/territories. Currently he is collaborating with colleagues on a three-book series on Stepped Care 2.0 to be published by Springer, with the first in the series available now.

Gillian Berry, PhD, LICSW, LCSW-C, CQSW obtained her Master’s and Doctoral degrees from Birmingham University in England.  She has over 35 years of experience as an educator and practitioner in the field of clinical mental health and human services.  Dr. Berry is currently the Vice President of Culture and Diversity at Stepped Care Solutions. She also provides clinical consultation, supervision, training and direct services for human services organizations such as child welfare and mental health agencies.  She has been a faculty member at the University of Botswana’s Department of Social Work Southern Africa, and the University of Maryland, School of Social Work.  Her clinical interests have focused on providing short-term solution-focused services/therapy from an indigenous perspective. She is the author of the empowerment novel The Righteous Sin.

National Behavioral Health Strategy Advocacy

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After announcing a behavioral health strategy at the State of the Union on March 1, President Biden submitted a proposed 2023 budget to Congress which includes more than $100 billion in behavioral healthcare funding over 10 years to address our workforce crisis, expand parity protection, and extend services into new settings.

Since this announcement, CBHL members convened an advocacy workgroup to develop key advocacy recommendations around two areas of particular member interest – the behavioral health workforce emergency and integrated care, equity, and parity. As a result of this work, CBHL developed a white paper in response to President Biden’s plan to address America’s behavioral health crisis. The white paper contains a set of practical recommendations developed by CBHL members through the lens of addressing the workforce shortage and advancing integrated care. They support and are intended to bolster current proposals to strengthen the capacity of the behavioral health system, enhance connections to care, and create healthy environments.

In addition to the white paper, CBHL developed templates to support advocacy efforts. These templates (found below) include letters to legislators, call scripts, and social media posts.

CBHL issued a press release entitled “Mental Health Community Activists Seek to Address the Behavioral Health Workforce Shortage and Advance Integrated Care” on November 17, 2022 which contains more information on advocacy efforts.

How You Can Join Advocacy Efforts

View and share the CBHL White Paper “Response to America’s Behavioral Health Crisis: Recommendations for Addressing Workforce Shortage and Advancing Integrated Care.”

White Paper

Write to your legislator(s) using a customizable letter template. Specific messages can be pulled from the White Paper.

You can find contact information for your legislators here.

Letter Template

Share this page and the CBHL White Paper through your social media channels using customizable sample social media language.

Sample Social Media Language

This page will continue to be updated with additional resources and templates related to advocacy efforts. Please continue to check back and share this page with anyone who may be interested in joining advocacy efforts.

For any questions or more information on how to get involved, contact Holly Salazer, CBHL CEO, at hsalazar@leaders4health.org.

Implementation Accelerator: Leadership Training through Application

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Offered in partnership with Health Management Associates (HMA). 

Access the Slide Deck Here

The healthcare industry is constantly evolving and requires a workforce that is responsive and able to lead and adapt to changes. Healthcare professionals are continually asked to incorporate new services, care models, quality measures, and process improvements into daily work. While clinical innovations and operational improvements are promising, there is growing recognition of the gap between plans to implement them and actual implementation. This has created an entire field of study, implementation science, to close this gap.

Health Management Associates (HMA) has extensive leadership, operational, and clinical expertise working directly with health systems, health plans, providers, foundations, community-based organizations, and associations and can help clients understand and use implementation science informed approaches for successful change. Drawing on this experience, we developed the HMA Implementation Accelerator, a leadership development framework that utilizes implementation science to address on-the-ground challenges and lead successful implementation efforts. This presentation will cover the framework and components of Implementation Accelerator.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

  1. Identify common barriers to successful project implementation​
  2. Describe skills needed to successfully lead project implementation​
  3. Review evidence-based principles to develop leadership skills​
  4. Outline project-based, skill development process to build​ implementation leaders​

Speaker Information

Suzanne Daub, LCSW

Suzanne Daub is a licensed clinical social worker with over 30 years of experience in direct patient care, program administration, managed care, and integrated behavioral health. A nationally recognized leader in integrated care, Ms. Daub is passionate about a “no wrong door” approach to care and works across systems to ensure individuals and families get whole-person, recovery-oriented services regardless of where they seek help. She has published in the area of integrated care workforce development, and as trained coach, provides practice coaching and mentoring in projects related to strengthening leadership, process and quality improvements, team-based care, and other system redesigns. Ms. Daub’s expertise includes designing and facilitating large scale quality improvement learning collaboratives. She is trained in several facilitation approaches designed to activate and distribute participation, including Dialogic Organizational Development and Liberating Structures.  Immediately prior to joining HMA, Ms. Daub served as senior director of integrated care initiatives for UPMC/Community Care Behavioral Health. She earned a Master of Social Work from Smith College School for Social Work and has postgraduate training in leadership coaching. Ms. Daub served on the Board of Directors for the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association and has an active clinical and coaching practice.

Marsha Johnson, MSW, LCSW

Marsha Johnson is a leader in complex care program development, integrated health delivery, curriculum development, and workforce and leadership development. She is passionate about building a resilient workforce and systems to meet the demands of the safety net environment and deliver quality, comprehensive care to complex populations.

Marsha’s broad clinical expertise includes individual and group psychotherapy, behavioral health consultation in the primary care environment, psychosocial interventions for group medical visits, batterers intervention, and supervision/training of students in health professions. She spent 12 years working in the federally-qualified health center environment where she guided the behavioral health program from co-location to full integration to improve care for patients with chronic disease including mental illness and substance use disorders. She currently maintains a private practice focused primarily on the delivery of dialectical behavior therapy.

As a member of the innovation team at the Urban Health Institute at Cooper Health System, Marsha brought her expertise to the redesign of ambulatory care services for the Medicare and Medicaid populations. She designed and implemented care transitions programs, integrated health coaching into primary care, and launched collaborative care planning with community-based services.

Prior to joining HMA, Marsha served as chief learning officer leading technical assistance and educational programs aimed at the development of complex care eco-systems in communities across the country. In partnership with academic institutions, she successfully scaled an interprofessional training program utilizing experiential learning to advance understanding of the impact of social determinants of health. She was also instrumental in the development and activation of the strategic plan of the National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs.

Elizabeth Wolff, MD, MPA

Elizabeth Wolff, MD, MPA is a physician executive who utilizes her expertise in population health, quality improvement, and practice operations to transform primary care to align with value-based care.

Dr. Wolff is a family physician who began her career at an FQHC in Manhattan and was subsequently promoted to Medical Director where she oversaw clinical quality and operations of 30 residents, NPs, and physicians.  In this role she guided implementation of Epic electronic medical records as a Super User, created templates, and trained new physicians on its use.  During her tenure she supervised their first and subsequent accreditation by The Joint Commission, which they passed with much commendation.  Operationally, she increased productivity of attending physicians by 20%.

She came to HMA from Northwell Health, an $11B health system, where she served as the medical director for complex care management. In that role, she expanded care management to 40 primary care sites undergoing patient-centered medical home (PCMH) transformation, strategically realigned the team to prioritize patients in full-risk and other value-based arrangements and oversaw the integration of behavioral health services into 17 primary care practices.  Dr. Wolff has also held numerous leadership positions in public health and not-for-profit health systems and oversaw clinical quality and operations.

Since joining HMA, Dr. Wolff has coached executives by using formal assessments and working with them to identify and attain their goals. She has coached leadership teams in change management and new program implementation.  She has assisted FQHCs to implement behavior health integration, create care teams, develop care management programs, and optimize clinical operations.  Additionally, she has led strategic planning initiatives.  With an expertise in quality improvement, Dr. Wolff has helped behavioral health independent practice associations (IPA) create quality improvement infrastructures.

Dr. Wolff graduated magna cum laude from the College of William and Mary. She attended medical school at Weill Cornell Medical College and received a Master of Public Administration at New York University Wagner School of Public Service. Dr. Wolff is a board-certified family physician and completed her residency at the University of Rochester.

Webinar | Self-Assessment for Modification of Anti-Racism Tool (SMART)

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Presentation Slides
SMART Tool
Written Q&A Responses
Follow up Dialogue: On the Ground Experience

This webinar will introduce participants to the Self-Assessment for Modification of Anti-Racism Tool (SMART), an innovative self-directed quality improvement tool developed by the American Association for Community Psychiatry (AACP) to assist community mental health organizations in addressing structural racism. The presenters will describe the process by which SMART was developed, including its grounding in input from community mental health providers and existing health inequity frameworks. The domains and items of SMART as well as its application process will be outlined. Presenters will also provide lessons from on-the-ground applications of SMART in diverse community mental health settings.

Participants will be able to:

  • Describe the relevance of and importance of addressing structural racism in the community mental health setting
  • Understand the 5 domains of the Self-Assessment for Modification of Anti-Racism Tool (SMART) tool, including literature evidence supporting the selection of SMART’s domains and items
  • Understand the on-the-ground experience of applying SMART in diverse community mental health settings

Speaker Information

Rachel Talley, MD

Rachel Talley, M.D. is Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). She is Director of the UPenn Department of Psychiatry’s Fellowship in Public and Community Psychiatry and is also an Associate Program Director for the UPenn Department of Psychiatry’s adult psychiatry residency program. She also directs the University of Pennsylvania’s Spaces of Color Initiative, a peer support program for Penn community members impacted by experiences of racism. She has several years of frontline clinical experience in community-based settings. Dr. Talley received her B.A. from Harvard University and her M.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine. She completed both her residency training in adult psychiatry and public psychiatry fellowship at Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute. She has several peer-reviewed publications examining the integration of physical health services into behavioral health settings. She has been recognized for her teaching and leadership in community mental health, including receipt of the University of Pennsylvania Department of Psychiatry’s Albert Stunkard Faculty Recognition Award both in 2021 and 2022, and the 2021 Larry A. Real Award from the Montgomery County PA chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

Sosunmolu Shoyinka MD, MBA

Dr. Sosunmolu Shoyinka is the Chief Medical Officer for the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS). In this role, Dr Shoyinka utilizes a combination of health system policy and process improvement strategies to assure optimal population health for approximately 1.6 million Philadelphians. As Chief Medical Officer, Dr Shoyinka led the redesign of Philadelphia’s Crisis system, in preparation for the implementation of 988.  Prior to this role, Dr. Shoyinka held several leadership positions. These include Medical Director for Sunflower and Home State Health plans and Director for the Missouri Behavioral Pharmacy Management program. The latter program resulted in cost savings of over $10 million over a decade. While at Centene, Dr Shoyinka co-led the design of a patent-pending analytic software platform that facilitates population health management for individuals with substance use conditions. He is also a co-developer of the SMART Tool, which facilitates self-directed antiracism work within organizations.  

Dr. Shoyinka trained at Yale, Columbia, and NYU and holds an MBA from the Kelley School of Business. He serves on several national committees. These include the Board of the American Association for Community Psychiatry, the Medical Director Institute for the National Council, and the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry. He also serves as voluntary faculty at the University of Pennsylvania and is a fellow of the Philadelphia College of Physicians. In 2021, he was recognized as a Black leader shaping the future of Psychiatry by the Scattergood Foundation.  In May 2022, Dr. Shoyinka received a Special President Commendation Award from the American Psychiatric Association.

 

Pamela D. McClenton, LCSW

Pamela D. McClenton, LCSW is Senior Director of Clinical Quality for the Management of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health & Intellectual disAbility Services, Division of Planning and Innovation. Pam’s social work career spans over 39-years. She has extensive experience in Child Welfare and Behavioral Health. Pam is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Pennsylvania and has been practicing as a mental health clinician for twenty-four years. She began her career with The City of Philadelphia at DBHIDS in 2004 and has served in numerous leadership capacities, including project manager for high-profile city initiatives The Mayor’s Task Force to Combat the Opioid Epidemic (2017) and The Mayor’s Curfew Center Initiative (2005-07). She developed and managed the DBHIDS Opioid Overdose Prevention and Narcan Rescue Training (2016-19) and successfully implemented the Department’s Emergency Protocol Response to the Opioid Epidemic (2018). In addition, Pam has served as a Steward for Local 2186 and Chair of the Quality of Work-Life Steering Committee for years. As Senior Director of Clinical Quality Management for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Pam leads the department’s internal and external DEI strategies and agendas. Since 2019 the DBHIDS DEI team led by Pam has developed a robust DEI presence. Through collaboration with internal and external stakeholders, the DEI team works to create a DEI-infused workplace culture where everyone can thrive and be authentic and included, have a voice, and feel valued, and achieve health, well-being, and self-determination. Pam is the recipient of prestigious awards and honors in recognition of her dedication and commitment: Commissioner’s Award (2018); Triumph Missionary Women of Honor Award (2018); Outstanding Leadership Award (2012); ACE Leadership Award (2007). Pam is a proud, thriving dyslexic neurodivergent who advocates relentlessly for people with invisible challenges. Pam stays busy with her business “Pamella on a Dime Home Design,” enjoys family time, and “loving on” her two beautiful grandchildren in her spare time.

Hunter L. McQuistion, MD

Hunter L. McQuistion, MD, is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and medical director of the SAMHSA-funded EnTRy Program at the Family Health Centers at NYU Langone. Previously, he was chief of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at NYC Health+Hospitals | Gouverneur, chief of outpatient and community psychiatry at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, chief medical officer for mental hygiene services at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and medical director of Project Renewal, Inc., a New York City nonprofit offering comprehensive care for disabled adults who experience homelessness. He completed residency at NYU Medical Center, where he was also a chief resident, and completed the Fellowship in Public Psychiatry at the New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University.

His expertise is managing public and community-based systems of care for people with mental health challenges, having practiced in emergency departments, inpatient and community outpatient environments, shelter-based therapeutic communities, housing programs, and street outreach. He has published, presented, and taught on issues in community mental health and the care of underserved and diverse populations, especially as they concern recovery orientation, advocacy, clinical engagement, psychiatric rehabilitation, and co-occurring substance misuse. He is a past president of the American Association for Community Psychiatry, a recipient of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Exemplary Psychiatrist Award, a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

Rochelle Head-Dunham, MD, DFAPA, FASAM

Rochelle Head-Dunham, MD, DFAPA, FASAM, an Endowed Professor at LSU School of Medicine, is an Addiction Psychiatrist with academic appointments as Clinical Associate Professor and Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at LSU and Tulane University Schools of Medicine, respectively. Her past immediate appointments were Assistant Secretary and Medical Director for the Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) within the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH). In that capacity, she represented the state of Louisiana nationally as the Mental Health and Addictive Disorders Authority, serving as both the Commissioner of Mental Health for the National Association of Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), and the Single State Agency Director for the National Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD).

Dr. Head-Dunham’s academic and administrative leadership has fostered noteworthy advances in the fields of addiction and mental health. She has served as a subject matter expert on various national and state platforms informing best practices for the field of behavioral health. Her clinical accolades include Clinical Faculty of the Year for the 2021 academic year at LSU School of Medicine. In 2019 she was the recipient of the Nyswander/Dole Award from the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence, INC. (AATOD). Both awards are demonstrative of her career success as a thought leader and strategist for programmatic and provider development, well documented by extensive lectures and trainings, both locally and nationally. Her clinical acumen coupled with her transformative management style has shaped an administrative career that fosters enduring changes for both systems, organizational and individual levels of performance.

Dr. Rochelle Head-Dunham is a New Orleans native who currently serves as the Executive Director and Medical Director for Metropolitan Human Services District (MHSD), a state local governing entity tasked with service delivery for indigent and Medicaid ensured persons living with mental illness, substance use disorders and intellectual/developmental disabilities, residing in Orleans and neighboring parishes.

Webinar | Innovations in Youth Mental Health: Part 2

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Offered in partnership with the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership. 

Presentation Slides

Youth mental health has been identified as a top behavioral health priority in our communities. Join this panel discussion to learn more about innovative programs and resources offered across the North American Region to support the mental health of our youth, and how you can replicate in your own community. 

Supporting Young Adult College Students with Mental Health Conditions: Insights from a Feasibility Trial of HYPE on Campus

HYPE on Campus is a college-based intervention focused on preventing dropout and enhancing persistence of young adult college students with mental health conditions (MHC).  This presentation will describe the model and share insights learned from a recent feasibility trial of HYPE on Campus at a 4-year state university. Discussion will focus on the need of college students with MHC, how HYPE was adapted to meet the COVID-related impacts of this population, and experiences of students receiving services. 

Sustaining and Scaling: How to Make Something Work in Your Context

This presentation will focus on providing you tools to implement good programming, models and/or practice in their context. You will learn how to identify core components, drivers for successful implementation and how to sustain the change. 

Centering LGBTQ+ Youth’s Mental Health Needs With Affirmative Practices

LGBTQ+ youth are at a higher risk for mental health distress compared to their non-LGBTQ+ peers. WJCS Center Lane works to combat that by providing programming where LGBTQ+ youth create community, connect with culture, and contribute to the world! This community support plays a crucial role in increasing resiliency among queer adolescents. This presentation will demonstrate the importance of gender and identity affirming spaces for youth and provide tools for fostering those spaces even in non-LGBTQ+ focused contexts. We’ll review the positive youth development strategies implemented in our programming, including our peer-to-peer support groups, adaptive response to community needs, and strengths-based approach to gender affirmation.

Speaker Information

Michelle Mullen, PhD

Michelle G. Mullen, PhD, is at UMASS Chan Medical School, Department of Psychiatry. Michelle’s main areas of expertise are mental health conditions (MHC), young adult (YA) services, career development, postsecondary education, and modernization of services. Her research focuses on increasing persistence and performance in work and school; cognitive training to enhance executive functioning skills; prevention of disability identity; and the evaluation of policy and programs to support normative development. Michelle is the clinical developer of a career development model, HYPE, that integrates employment and education support.

Shauna MacEachern

Shauna (she/her) is the Executive Director of Frayme, a national knowledge mobilization charity working to bring best evidence and knowledge to those implementing programs and services in the youth mental health sector. Shauna works to change systems and takes great joy in diving into complex and head-scratching transformative efforts. Driven by a commitment to social justice and deconstructing inequitable systems of service, Shauna firmly believes in a human-centered approach to her work. Having worked to enhance outcomes for children, youth, and their families in the mental health and substance use systems for over 15 years, Shauna believes that working together at community, provincial/territorial, and national levels is instrumental in eliminating fragmentation.  

Liz Verrastro, LMSW

Liz Verrastro (she/her) is a Licensed Master Social Worker. She has a BA in English Literature from SUNY Geneseo and an MSW from Fordham University. She is a certified Youth Mental Health First Aid instructor and is trained in providing inclusive care for LGBTQ+ youth. As a counselor, she’s worked with youth of all ages and believes education and prevention are cornerstones of social work and activism. In addition to her work with youth, she also works for young people by providing trainings on supporting LGBTQ+ youth throughout Westchester County. 

Alice Charlotte Bethke

Alice Charlotte Bethke (she/her) is an intern at WJCS Center Lane. She has previously helped facilitate Center Lane’s youth groups and Pride Camp and is the co-author of Center Lane’s Pride Academy Curriculum. As a trans woman from Iowa, she knows the importance of inclusive, community-building support from adults and peers. She lives in New York and is attending Sarah Lawrence College, where she is concentrating in fiction writing.

Webinar | Innovations in Youth Mental Health: Part 1

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Offered in partnership with the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership. 

Presentation Slides

Resource Links:

Youth mental health has been identified as a top behavioral health priority in our communities. Join this panel discussion to learn more about innovative programs and resources offered across the North American Region to support the mental health of our youth, and how you can replicate in your own community. 

Reading & Rhythm Changes Lives

Steven Angel will present an overview of the underlying causes for why students struggle with reading and how it affects their mental health. He’ll address how rhythm changes the inner workings of the mind by transforming the Doubtful Internal Voice, while improving focus and concentration. He’ll share the building blocks that are used in Reading & Rhythm to dramatically improve reading scores and share how rhythm  increases motivation and self-esteem. He’ll close with discussing a training process that can affect tens of thousands of students in the United States and abroad.

The Power of Youth Emotional CPR

Oryx Cohen and Miranda Todt will present on the development of Youth Emotional CPR (eCPR) by and for youth. Their presentation will include the basics of eCPR (C – Connect, P – emPowerment, R – Revitalization) and share highlights of their experience delivering Youth eCPR around the world.

Culturally Relevant Interventions for Mental Health Providers Serving Hispanic and Latino Youths

Latinx youths are at significant risk for mental health problems, including anxiety, depression, and suicide attempts. Latinx youths are also less likely to access culturally responsive mental health services and continue to be undiagnosed or untreated. This can lead to negative outcomes such as negative interactions at school and with authorities, increased disconnection from family and society, and exposure to the criminal justice system. This presentation will review related stressors and gaps that impact Latino youth and families. Special considerations for Hispanic and Latino youth mental health will be discussed.

Speaker Information

Steven Angel

Steven Angel is President, founder, and creator of programs of the Drumming for Your Life Institute (DFYL), a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles. In 2001, Steven created the Reading & Rhythm program, which uses rhythm and educational tools to help students achieve higher grades and improved behavior. DFYL has implemented the Reading & Rhythm program in over 100 schools, detention camps, juvenile halls, wellness, and family centers helping thousands of pre-k thru 12th grade & adult students. His staff have trained teachers in U.S. and Europe. A statistical analysis by UCLA showed the program makes a significant difference.

Oryx Cohen, M.P.A.

Oryx Cohen is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Empowerment Center. He serves as President of the Board for the Massachusetts Transformation Center and We R Hope, and is a master Emotional CPR trainer. Oryx co-produced and is a subject in the award-winning social action documentary HEALING VOICES, which was released in April 2016. Oryx lives with his wife and two children in Massachusetts.

Miranda Todt

Miranda is the Board Secretary for We R H.O.P.E. and an Emotional CPR Trainer.  She co-wrote the Youth Emotional CPR (eCPR) curriculum and has taught eCPR to youth around the world, including girl scouts in New Hampshire.  Miranda is currently a college student who aspires to be an Emergency Room medical professional.

Angel Casillas-Carmona, M.H.S.

Angel Casillas-Carmona, M.H.S., completed his graduate studies at Universidad Central del Caribe (UCC) in 2020 and obtained his Master’s in Health Sciences in Substance Abuse Counseling. He currently stands as Project Manager for the National Hispanic and Latino Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC), subsidized by SAMHSA, emphasizing the Hispanic and Latino populations in the United States and its territories. He began his professional development as a Technology Transfer Specialist at the Institute of Research Education and Services of Addiction (IRESA) of UCC. He oversees coordinating training services and education and provided technical assistance for the SAMHSA-subsidized Opioid Response Network (ORN) for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. He is a volunteer coordinator for Gua’kia pa la calle, an independent harm reduction and syringe exchange program. 

Webinar | Soteria New York: Bringing an Innovative Approach to Psychiatric Crisis to New York

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Offered in partnership with New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS) and Community Access. 

Presentation Slides – Soteria NYC

This webinar will discuss the history and future of the Soteria model, an evidence-based alternative to acute hospitalization for persons experiencing psychiatric crises. Soteria provides intensive support in a communal residential setting with emphasis on humane interactions and understanding.

Replications of the Soteria model have been few and far between since the remarkable success of the original Soteria experiment, spearheaded by Loren Mosher and Alma Menn in the 1970s. Recently, a wide-ranging renewal of the Soteria model has taken place in Israel with very positive outcomes.

The need for alternatives to police intervention and hospitalization for crisis stabilization, has led to a development of short term residential facilities in many US states. Following the success of the Parachute Project, New York State has been a pioneer in promoting the establishment of such residential alternatives with an eye on further expansion. This discussion will consider how the Soteria model would be uniquely impactful in New York State.

Speakers:

Pesach Lichtenberg | Founder, Soteria Isreal; Psychiatrist based in Jerusalem

Voyce Hendrix | Director, Soteria San Jose (1976-78); Social Worker, St. Paul, MN

Yana Jacobs | Counselor, Soteria San Jose; Social Worker, Santa Cruz, CA

Daniel Bergner | Contributing Writer, New York Times; Author of Upcoming Book – The Mind and the Moon – My Brother, the Science of Our Brains and the Search for Our Psyches

Elan Cohen | Clinical Psychology Doctoral Candidate and Former Peer Specialist with the Parachute Program

Peter Stastny | Psychiatric Consultant; Co-Founder of International Network Towards Alternatives and Rights-Based Supports

Webinar with Dr. Tom Insel | Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health

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Offered in partnership with the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership. 

Presentation Slides

The fruit of a lifetime of expertise and a global quest for answers, Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health is a hopeful, actionable account and achievable vision for us all in this time of mental health crisis.

Dr. Insel, former Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, left his position atop the mental health research world to investigate all that was broken—and what a better path to mental health might look like. He found that we do have approaches that work, both in the U.S. and globally. Mental illnesses are medical problems, but he discovers that the cures for the crisis are not just medical, but social. This path to healing, built upon what he calls the three Ps (people, place, and purpose), is more straightforward than we might imagine. Dr. Insel offers a comprehensive plan for our failing system and for families trying to discern the way forward.

Dr. Thomas Insel

Tom lnsel, M.D., a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, has been a national leader in mental health research, policy, and technology. From 2002-2015, Dr. Insel served as Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). More recently, he led the Mental Health Team at Verily (2015-2017); co- founded Mindstrong Health (2017-2019), a start-up building tools for people with serious mental illness; and served as a special advisor to California Governor Gavin Newsom (2019), helping on behavioral health issues. In 2020, he co-founded Humanest Care, a therapeutic online community for recovery. He currently serves on the boards of Foundation for NIH, Fountain House, Schaeffer Center for Health Policy, and the Steinberg Institute (Chair, 2019-2022) as well as being an advisor to several mental health start-ups (including Alto Neuroscience, Cerebral, Compass Pathways, Owl Insights, Koa Health, Valera Health). He is the author of Healing: Our Path from Mental Illness to Mental Health (Penguin Random House, 2022). With journalist co-founders, he recently launched MindSite News, a non-profit digital publication focused on mental health issues. Dr. Insel is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and has received numerous national and international awards including honorary degrees in the U.S. and Europe. More information on Dr. Insel can be found here.

The Reality of Co-Production: Learning from Experiences of Working with Service Users as Stakeholders

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Presentation Slides

Offered in partnership with the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership. 

The term co-production refers to a way of working where service providers and users, work together to reach a collective outcome. The approach is value-driven and built on the principle that those who are affected by a service are best placed to help design it.

Co-production is an approach to decision-making and service design rather than a specific method. It stems from the recognition that if organizations are to deliver successful services, they must understand the needs of their users and engage them closely in the design and delivery of those services. 

Co-production rejects the traditional understanding of service users as dependents of public services, and instead redefines the service/ user relationship as one of co-dependency and collaboration. Just like users need the support from public services, service providers need the insights and expertise of its users in order to make the right decisions and build effective services. In practice, it means that those who are affected by a service are not only consulted, but are part of the conception, design, steering, and management of services.

Using real-life examples, this interactive discussion session will share learning from the theories, tensions, challenges and benefits of co-production in health practice and research. Among other areas, we will collectively discuss power inequalities, lived experience vs data to inform decision-making, and ethical considerations. 

Learning Objectives:

  1. Understand the theories and policy drivers of undertaking co-production in health research and services.
  2. Consider the real-life implementation challenges of co-production in practice within current health systems and contexts. 
  3. Develop an understanding how leaders can support co-production in future healthcare.

Speaker Information

Dr. Corinna Hackmann

The research we develop is clinically applied and has co-production at its heart. Meaningful research development should encompass a multitude of perspectives and empower everybody. This has included work on diagnosis, peer support, autistic spectrum disorders, eating disorders and discharge from inpatient settings. We have worked in collaboration with the World Health Organisation on a paper published in the Lancet Psychiatry on the need to include service-user perspectives in diagnostic guidelines.

I am also interested in co-creativity, the arts and language. We are currently working on a project to explore the impact of the language on people who have experienced mental health issues.

Dr. Bonnie Teague

I work across all areas relating to mental health research and lead the strategic programmes of work relating to research within the NHS.

My specific research interests are in mental health inequalities, global health services and social determinants of mental health. I am also Associate Professor in mental health services research at the University of East Anglia, and act as supervisor for nursing, PhD and psychology trainees.

I am passionate about how research can be used as a tool of education and learning for everyone and can also support principles of health equity by challenging the status quo through high-quality evidence.  My current research focuses on supporting marginalised health groups to engage in health intervention development.

Community As Medicine

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Presentation Slides

Struggling with workforce shortages? Curious about truly integrative bio-psycho-social-soulful care? Wondering how to integrate peers or coaches into your services?

Open Source Wellness (OSW) is an Oakland-based nonprofit with a mission of transforming health care and health outcomes in partnership with communities.

OSW can be understood as a “Behavioral Pharmacy,” delivering on the “Behavioral Prescriptions” that primary care, specialty care, and behavioral health providers offer to their patients who are struggling with (or at risk for) behaviorally-mediated conditions including depression, anxiety, social isolation, diabetes, and hypertension. OSW partners with clinical providers and payors to deliver its experiential “Community As Medicine” model, achieving striking clinical patient outcomes and generating revenue for FQHC’s and other clinical delivery systems. Utilizing culturally-relevant health coaches and peer leaders to support diverse and transdiagnostic populations, OSW represents a next-generation behavioral health solution and a new way of organizing clinical delivery services.

International Innovations to Support the Workforce: Addressing Moral Distress and Moral Injury in Healthcare Workers

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Links:

Description: Since the COVID-19 outbreak, frontline health care workers and first responders have been under considerable stress. Every day they are engaged in a balancing act making critical decisions around which patients will receive life-saving care when resources are limited, having to discharge someone earlier than recommended to avoid the risk of infecting others, or having to eliminate ‘non-essential’ care during the crisis.

Being stretched physically and mentally, and unable to provide optimum care to everyone, may lead to moral injury. Moral injury refers to the impact of extremely challenging, morally laden experiences that upset one’s value system. If not addressed, moral injury can result in long-lasting emotional and psychological damage.

Health care workers need organizational, team, and individual supports now.

The Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families and Phoenix Australia – Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health have co-developed A Guide to Moral Injury that addresses this situation among health care workers. A practical resource for health care workers and organizations ,the guide: i) defines moral injury; ii) lays out the stressors and harms that may lead to moral injury, focusing on those prevalent in the health care setting related to COVID-19; iii) provides a framework for managing events in the workplace that can lead to moral injury; iv) outlines actions that can be taken at the organizational, team, and individual levels to mitigate and reduce the harms that can lead to moral injury; v) explores how race and culture intersect with morality and are axes of identity relevant to the experiences of moral distress and moral injury, and how racism influences health outcomes.

Equity as a Foundation for Leadership: Experiences and Recommendations for Behavioral Health Leaders

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Links:

Description:

Leaders must embody equity as an operating principle – as a mindset – to transform behavioral health systems. 

Late in 2021, Health and Human Services (HHS) Region 3 leaders were asked to share their experiences and perspectives on equity as a foundation of leadership. In a diverse region with nearly 31,000,000 people, clear racial disparities exist on key indicators of health equity. The consequences of these disparities are far-reaching and not only affect the health and well-being of individuals receiving care, but also of the behavioral health workforce.  

On March 1, 2022, the Central East Addiction Technology Transfer Center (CE-ATTC), funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and operated by The Danya Institute, released a report describing and defining Equity Grounded Leadership for use by behavioral health leaders in Region 3 states. This report, developed by The College for Behavioral Health Leadership (CBHL) in partnership with Just Health Collective, LLC and Prevention Institute, builds on the Danya Institute’s ongoing efforts to improve diversity, increase cultural competency, and address population-specific needs of people receiving and delivering behavioral health services in Region 3. While developed based on the experiences of Region 3 leaders, the recommendations are applicable to leaders across the country.

This webinar offers an overview of the report development and outcomes, key takeaways for organizations and communities, and a description of and discussion about the importance of equity-grounded leadership.  We will also seek your feedback on what is needed next to support equity-grounded leadership in Region 3.

Speakers:

Oscar Morgan, Project Director, Central East Addiction Technology Transfer Center

Oscar Morgan is the interim director of the Danya Institute where he is responsible for the management, growth, and development of the Institute and has primary responsibilities for supervision of the Institute’s personnel. He is also the Project Director of the Central East MHTTC where is responsible for the programmatic and administrative coordination of all training and technical assistance (T/TA).

His background includes serving as the Mental Health Commissioner for the State of Maryland, where he expanded the workforce from a static capacity of 200 providers to more than 3,000, and established a self-governed, peer support organization throughout the state. He brings more than 35 years of experience in the mental health and substance use service fields, with expertise in providing evidence-based and culturally and linguistically competent services, trauma-informed programs, mental health and substance use organizational systems, and program integration.

He was an author of The National Action Plan on Behavioral Health Workforce commissioned by SAMHSA and has written articles on health equity and provided T/TA on emerging policies and trends affecting the care and treatment of individuals with mental illness for providers and stakeholders in the 50 states and territories.

He holds a B.A. from the University of Colorado, Boulder and a Masters of Health Service Administration from George Washington University. Mr. Morgan also has a Certificate of Public Health Leadership from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Jei Africa, Director, Marin County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services

Dr. Jei Africa, PsyD, MSCP, CATC-V, Director of Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (BHRS) at the County of Marin, is an innovative thought-leader and clinician who is passionate about integrating effective culturally responsive practices into the core functioning of County health services. Dr. Africa has over 2 decades experience in the areas of behavioral health, trauma, health equity and diversity. He maintains also consulting and private psychotherapy practice in the Bay Area.

For over a decade, Dr. Africa served as the Director of the Office of Diversity and Equity with the San Mateo County Health System where he led agency-wide efforts addressing health equity that received State recognition. He spearheaded the development of the first-ever multi-disciplinary behavioral health LGBTQ+ community center, led the health system’s change efforts to enable the collection of SOGI data for all patients, and was instrumental in the opening of a transgender health clinic. Prior positions include: Clinical Director at Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse and Manager of Youth Treatment Services at Asian American Recovery Services.

In addition to his professional work, Dr. Africa was appointed to serve as a founding member of the San Mateo County LGBTQ Commission (2014-2017), and currently volunteers with Alliance for Community Empowerment (ALLICE), an all-Filipino organization offering free education on healthy relationships (2007-present). He currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and at the Mabuhay Health Clinic, a free student-run clinic affiliated with the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF). He was a member of the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities Regional Health Equity Council (RHEC) IX, previously served as a Senior Research faculty member at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University and a fellow with the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) Leadership Institute.

Jei Africa holds a Post-doctoral M.S. degree in Clinical Psychopharmacology, a Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology, and an M.A. degree in Clinical Psychology from Alliant International University/California School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Africa received an undergraduate degree from the University of the Philippines in Behavioral Science.

Kathy Poston, Chief Engagement Officer, Just Health Collective

With a career spanning more than 25 years in healthcare, Ms. Poston has extensive management consulting experience leading engagements and managing client relationships.

Ms. Poston partners with executive and senior leaders to advance their health equity and belonging initiatives by providing management consulting and delivery services as well as concentrating on sales and business development.

In addition to a more recent focus on health equity and belonging, Ms. Poston has deep financial and operational experience with matrixed healthcare systems, specifically focused on physician enterprises. Areas of expertise include large scale physician enterprise assessments, management and operational redesigns, patient access and clinical workflow improvements and physician compensation plan redesigns.

Ms. Poston serves as a thought leader around women’s leadership inclusion and advancement issues.  She also serves as an ally in the advancement of people of color, having served as a member of several business resource communities in support of a diverse and inclusive workforce.

Prior to joining Just Health Collective, Ms. Poston was a Managing Consulting at Berkeley Research Group and previously held roles at Optum Advisory Services, a UnitedHealth Group company, legacy Advisory Board Company. Ms. Poston’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in accounting from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Ruben Cantu, Associate Program Director, Prevention Institute

Ruben Cantu is an Associate Program Director on Prevention Institute’s Safety and Wellbeing Team. He has more than 20 years of nonprofit experience in public health and mental health and wellbeing through an equity and racial justice lens. At PI, he leads initiatives to address and prevent community trauma through application of PI’s Adverse Community Experiences and Resilience framework. He also works on strategies to improve mental health and wellbeing through a focus on community conditions. This recently included managing the Making Connections for Mental Health and Wellbeing Among Men and Boys initiative, a national community of practice comprising 13 sites across the U.S. implementing upstream, community prevention strategies to build resilience among men and boys of color and military service members, veterans, and their families. He is the primary author of California’s strategic plan for reducing mental health disparities and serves on several state advisory committees.

Equity as a Foundation for Leadership: Experiences and Recommendations for Behavioral Health Leaders

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The Central East Addiction Technology Transfer Center (CE-ATTC), funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and operated by The Danya Institute, partnered with The College for Behavioral Health Leadership (CBHL) to develop a report describing and defining Equity Grounded Leadership for use by behavioral health leaders in Health and Human Services Region 3 states. This report builds on the Institute’s ongoing efforts to improve diversity, increase cultural competency, and address population-specific needs of people receiving and delivering behavioral health services in Region 3.

While developed based on the experiences of Region 3 leaders, the recommendations are applicable to leaders across the country.

CBHL partnered with Just Health Collective and the Prevention Institute to develop this report. The purpose is to define and describe equity-grounded leadership, incorporating the experiences and perspectives of Region 3 behavioral health leaders via a survey, key informant interviews, and focus groups; make the case for the importance of focusing on equity as an foundational element of leadership; and offer recommendations for local, state, and national leaders and policy makers.

This publication was prepared for the Central East Addiction Technology Transfer Center (CE-ATTC) under a cooperative agreement from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). All material appearing in this publication, except that taken directly from copyrighted sources, is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission from SAMHSA or the authors. Citation of the source is appreciated. Do not reproduce or distribute this publication for a fee without specific, written authorization from the CE-ATTC. At the time of this publication, Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon, PhD, served as Assistant Secretary of Mental Health Services and Substance Use and the Administrator of SAMHSA. The opinions expressed herein are the view of CE-ATTC and the authors and do not reflect the official position of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), SAMHSA. No official support or endorsement of HHS, SAMHSA for the opinions described in this document is intended or should be inferred.

A Year Ahead in Behavioral Health Policy

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Hosted in partnership with the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors (NACBHDD).

Description:

One year into a new administration. Two years into a behavioral health pandemic within a lingering COVID pandemic.  Three opportunities to address the needs of our communities.

A dialogue to look a year ahead in behavioral health policy for three issues being addressed by communities throughout the country:

  • Implementation of 988 and crisis system transformations
  • Supporting workforce mental health and addressing burnout
  • Addressing mental health needs of children and youth

Pre-reading:  We Must Confront Difficult Policy Questions in the New Year

Panelists

Jonah C. Cunningham

Jonah C. Cunningham currently serves as President and CEO of the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors (NACBHDD).  In this role he proactively advocates for national policies that recognize and support the critical role counties play in caring for people affected by mental illness, addiction, and developmental disabilities.  In this capacity he also serves as Executive Director of the National Association for Rural Mental Health. 

Prior to joining NACBHDD, Jonah worked at Trust for America’s Health, a public health think tank, where he focused extensively on ways to reduce mortality from substance misuse and suicide.  Additionally, he worked as a congressional staffer for several years in the office of Congresswoman Grace F. Napolitano (CA) where he helped to reestablish the Congressional Mental Health Caucus and created a Suicide Prevention Task Force within the Caucus. 

Jonah C. Cunningham has received numerous awards and recognition for his commitment to the field of behavioral health and those served by the nation’s behavioral health system. Jonah has a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of Utah and a Master of Public Policy from The George Washington University.  In his free time, he enjoys learning how to cook and is an avid Jiu-Jitsu practitioner.

Dr. Ron Manderscheid

Ron Manderscheid, Ph.D., has a life-long commitment to social-justice, particularly racial, gender, and health equity. This is reflected through a career that spans national work with the Congress and Administration, federal agencies, NGOs, and university teaching.

He serves currently as Adjunct Professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, and the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California. Until recently, he was President/CEO, National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors and National Association for Rural Mental Health. Both organizations represent county and local authorities in the DC community.

Concurrently, Dr. Manderscheid serves on the boards of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, the National Grand Challenge for Social Work Initiative, the Danya Institute, and the NASMHPD Research Institute. He also served until recently as the Co-Chair of the National Coalition for Whole Health.

Past appointments include Director of Mental Health and Substance Use Programs at the Global Health Sector of SRA International and several federal leadership roles at the National Institute of Mental Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of HHS. Throughout his career, he has emphasized and promoted the concerns of peers with behavioral health conditions and their family members.   

Dr. Manderscheid was a Member of the HHS Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Healthy People 2020; the Clinton Healthcare Reform Task Force; President of the Federal Executive Institute Alumni Association (FEIAA) and Foundation; Chair of the APHA Mental Health Section and Governing Council, and a member of the post-9/11 Work Group; Chairperson of the Sociological Practice Section of the American Sociological Association; President of the Washington Academy of Sciences and the District of Columbia Sociological Society; and President of  The College for Behavioral Health Leadership.

He edited eight editions of Mental Health, United States, co-edited Outcome Measurement in the Human Services, and contributed to Public Mental Health, First and Second Editions. He also published more than 500 papers on services to persons with mental illness and substance use conditions. He serves on several editorial boards and prepares a periodic blog for Behavioral Healthcare Executive (www.behavioral.net).

Marcellina Melvin

Marcy Melvin joined Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute in April 2018. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Texas with over 18 years of experience developing and implementing mental health programs, systems, and procedures in primary, secondary, and post-secondary educational settings. She is a child, adolescent, and family-trained. Ms. Melvin has over 25 years of experience in providing direct clinical and supervisory services to children, adolescents, parents, and young adults in various clinical settings: residential, in-home, outpatient, private practice, primary, secondary, and post-secondary locations.

While at Meadows Institute, Marcy led the American Red Cross Texas CARES grant and supported the Texas CARES-Training grant. These grants helped to support the mental and behavioral health needs of teachers, students, and their families along the Gulf Coast that were impacted by Hurricane Harvey. She assisted in leading a comprehensive environmental scan of the child welfare services in Harris County. She assisted in the financial analysis of the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department MST program. In addition to these projects, Ms. Melvin helped develop a Mental Health Strategic Framework for Region 4 ESC. She also co-led the Rebuild Texas Dickinson Independent School District project. She was instrumental in developing and delivering curriculum for early childhood teachers, local early childcare center/daycare center staff, and parents in Dickinson ISD. The trainings were intended to improve the social-emotional health of young children. Marcy has taken the lead on creating Meadow’s Institutes strategic framework that incorporates health equity into policy work, and she supports the implementation of these strategies across the organization.

Ms. Melvin has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Xavier University of Louisiana and a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Fisk University.

Tony Muñoz-Hilliard

Tony Muñoz-Hilliard is a New York Certified Peer Specialist (NYCPS) and National Certified Peer Specialist (NCPS) who firmly believes in the power of lived experience. Tony uses the challenges he has navigated in his own life to inspire hope in others and illustrate that recovery and whole-health wellness are indeed possible, despite mental illness, substance use and/or difficult life circumstances.

Tony has lived experience with major depressive disorder and substance use, and uses his training in Intentional Peer support (IPS) and the Need-Adapted Treatment Model (NATM) to support and provide trauma-informed care to peers. Tony also works on a mobile treatment team in New York City and is a peer advisor for the Public Psychiatry Fellowship of New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University Medical Center. He has presented nationally and internationally on topics such as peers on interdisciplinary teams, peer workforce, trauma and social determinants of health.

Tony is currently a student at SUNY Empire State College, where he is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and is a trained video producer with Manhattan Neighborhood Network, which allows him to incorporate the arts in his recovery process.

Dr. Marvin Southard

Dr. Marvin (Marv) Southard is the former Director of the largest county-run mental health services organization in the United States, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH), with a budget approaching $3 billion, serving more than a quarter of a million persons annually that supports innovative co-located services within schools, courts, other County departments, and various community organizations.

In this role at LACDMH, Marv assembled a ground-breaking team that accomplished creative and inclusive work with communities including regional mental health urgent care centers, crisis response teams, children and older adult systems of care, Health Neighborhoods, and partnerships with faith communities to further social justice.

Marv has focused his career on empowering healthy urban and rural communities to strengthen recovery from mental health and substance use challenges. He served for a decade as a leader of community behavioral health services in East Los Angeles. Marv also founded substance abuse treatment centers and served as a clinical director and leader of numerous organizations, as well as acting in another county government leadership role as the Kern County Director of Mental Health. 

On leaving government service, Marv continued to serve communities, mental health organizations, and governmental entities as a consultant and Professor of Practice at the University of Southern California (USC), where he developed the Professional DSW degree program, mentoring the next generation of community service leaders.

Hannah Wesolowski

Hannah Wesolowski is Chief Advocacy Officer for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Hannah and the entire Government Relations, Policy & Advocacy team work with advocates, partners and NAMI leaders to enact policy change that will improve the lives of all people affected by mental health conditions. She believes in the power of advocates sharing their stories to advance research, increase mental health funding, improve access to care, expand social supports and decriminalize mental illness.

She came to NAMI in 2017 with more than a decade of experience in advocacy, joining the NAMI team after five years at the Public Affairs Council to help associations, corporations and nonprofit advocacy groups build government affairs efforts programs. She previously led political advocacy efforts at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the American Institute of Architects.

Hannah grew up in New Hampshire and has a B.A. from New York University, where she also earned an MPA from NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Core Competencies in Peer Crisis Support: Values, Practices and Skills

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Access the slide deck here.

Offered in partnership with the New York Association for Psychiatric Rehabilitation (NYAPRS) and Humannovations.

Lived experience of crisis and peer support can be incredibly valuable when people are experiencing ‘crisis-level’ emotions such as suicidal intensity. Dispensing with stigmatizing and dehumanizing language related to these experiences is a crucial first step, altering clinical and law enforcement practices that feel more like punishment than care is also crucial. Peer specialists and peer empowerment values need to be effectively integrated as supports in intense situations as well. But structural resistance, risk aversion and stigma have prevented anything like widespread involvement of people with lived experience in crisis or suicide prevention programming.

Given that the peer empowerment model developed in reaction, at least to some degree, to coercion and dehumanizing  experiences associate with interventions when people were at their worst moments, how can the value of shared experience and peer support work in a new system of crisis care, such as envisioned through the 988 transformation?

The key to successful integration of “peer crisis support” is a set of core practices and skills that provide people with lived experience with distinctive competencies for supporting peers in these moments and settings, and the opportunity and confidence to employ them. Ie the practical transformation of lived experience into lived expertise for crisis support.

In this session we will present a comprehensive approach to bridging peer support values and practices to support in crisis services and settings, including core skills for encountering threat of violence and suicidal intensity. The presenters will outline the details of one model of advanced ‘peer crisis support’ training (Growing Through) and provide discussion on the integration of these practices from the point of view of both public mental health and suicide prevention fields.

Participants will learn:

  • An approach to bridging peer support values and practices for ‘encountering intensity’ with peers.
  • Trauma-informed reframes of clinical terminology for humanizing the experience of crisis and struggles
  • A set of peer crisis support core competencies, including support for suicidal intensity

Speaker Information

Eduardo Vega is an internationally recognized thought leader in recovery-oriented programs and policy, consumer/patient rights, stigma reduction, and suicide prevention, whose work continues to drive the forefront of change for public health and mental health worldwide. He is founder and CEO of Humannovations, a consulting and training firm providing innovative solutions for mental health and suicide prevention internationally, fueled by social justice and the “lived experience” of people who have been there. Clients of Humannovations include the World Health Organization, Asana, the White House Office of Science & Technology, the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the Movember Foundation, Suicide Prevention Australia, the International Bipolar Foundation, the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Facebook and more.

A former Fulbright Specialist and California State Commissioner for Mental Health Services, Vega has led and served on multiple health policy bodies and as an invited expert to the Office of the White House of President Obama. He has presented and consulted on technical issues in behavioral health with stakeholder and consumer groups, private industry and government in the US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe, Fiji and Latin America. He serves on the the Steering Committee of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and the US National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention.

For his transformative leadership Vega has been recognized by the United States Senate and the United States Surgeon General, the State of California, the nation of Fij. He holds an M.A. in Psychology from New School for Social Research.